On the heels of the U.S. government's approval of a groundbreaking gene therapy for treating cancer, a leading researcher in the field is set to deliver a highly anticipated keynote address on chimeric antigen receptor T cells, or ?CAR T' to kick off the Society for Immunotherapy of Cancer's (SITC) 32nd Annual Meeting.

Stephan Grupp, MD, PhD, the Director of Cancer Immunotherapy and Cell Therapy/Transplant Section at the Children's Hospital of Pennsylvania in Philadelphia, will deliver his keynote speech, ?The CAR T Revolution in Leukemia" on Friday, Nov. 10, 2017 at SITC 2017. The Annual Meeting takes place Nov. 10-12 in National Harbor, Md. Dr. Grupp's presentation will focus on CAR T, which is a historic, first-of-its-kind gene therapy approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) on Aug. 30, 2017 that supports the use of tisagenlecleucel in certain pediatric and young adult patients with acute lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL).

?Knowing that incredible advances in CAR T cell therapies were being made by SITC member researchers like Dr. Grupp and Dr. Carl June of the University of Pennsylvania," said SITC President Lisa H. Butterfield, PhD, ?SITC leaders decided in January that a keynote lecture on CAR T cells would really kick off an exciting and productive Annual Meeting for our attendees."

Preceded by two days of Pre-Conference Programs on Nov. 8-9, which include a basic primer course on tumor immunology and cancer immunotherapy, a grant writing workshop, and other events, the three-day Annual Meeting will feature numerous cutting-edge presentations from leading experts in the field reporting the tremendous progress being made in cancer immunotherapy research.

Paul Sondel, MD, PhD, a professor and renowned researcher at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, will deliver the keynote speech on Saturday, Nov. 11, 2017 entitled, ?Activation of Innate and Adaptive Immunity as an In Situ Cancer Vaccine." Dr. Sondel is the 2017 recipient of the Richard V. Smalley, MD Memorial Award and Lectureship, the society's most distinguished award honoring a luminary in the field who has significantly contributed to the advancement of cancer immunotherapy research.

?The 32nd Annual Meeting & Pre-Conference Programs is set to become the most highly attended SITC meeting ever," Butterfield said. ?A major reason why is researchers like Stephan Grupp, who have made their life's work using the immune system to find a cure for cancer."